noisettebyolivia

10/23/2024

🔸New Adventure - YI SHI Cacao Collective🔸

Noisette has been a small yet special chapter in our lives, filled with heartwarming moments and unforgettable connections. We’re deeply grateful for the chance to meet so many talented local food makers and entrepreneurs, and for all of you who visited us at markets and pop-up events. Your support has meant the world to us.

While Noisette has now come to a close, we’re thrilled to announce the adventure - YI SHI Cacao Collective!

YI SHI 怡室, meaning ‘joyful room,’ is a welcoming space where you can explore and learn about the world of bean-to-bar chocolate.

At YI SHI Cacao, we’ll be curating immersive chocolate tasting sessions that celebrate the rich stories and diverse origins of cacao. While the website is still in the works, the upcoming chocolate tasting workshop will be announced at soon! We would love for you to join us on this exciting new journey!!

With love and gratitude,

Olivia

05/10/2024

Let's continue with the bottom row of the six tree-to-bar chocolate makers from Pingtung, Nantou, and Taichung!

🔸Bottom Left
Taiwan Choco (TC巧鋪), Pingtung
Dark Chocolate 75%

With the aim of providing stable income to cacao farmers and enhancing the competitiveness of the local cacao industry, the founder of Taiwan Choco established a cooperative that unites the livelihoods of 35 cacao farmers in Pingtung.

Tasting notes: Raisins, dried fruit, woody and chocolatey.

🔸Bottom Middle
思惟巧克力, Nantou
Dark Chocolate 85%

Located 288 km north of Pingtung, at 23.5 degrees north of the equator, Nantou has a microclimate characterized by cooler nights and hot days (compared to the consistently warm weather in Pingtung).

Tasting notes: Mouth-watering juicy berry with bright acidity, citrusy and long nutty finish.

🔸Bottom Right
Chomeet Chocolate (巧遇農情), Taichung
Dark Chocolate 74%

The founder of Chomeet Chocolate sourced cacao from Kaohsiung, Nantou, and Pingtung for this 74% dark chocolate. By blending cacao beans from these three regions as well as carefully adjusting the roasting time and temperature, they are able to control the consistency of the flavour profile.

Tasting notes: Creamy roasted nut butter, vanilla, chocolatey.choc.apprentice
#屏東巧克力 #南投巧克力

05/01/2024

For a humble learning experience and to appreciate cacao grown in different parts of Taiwan, it would be fun to explore chocolate from six tree-to-bar chocolate makers in Pingtung, Nantou, and Taichung!

🔸Top Left
JL Chocolate, Pingtung
Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Wanchin X Pingtung Cacao Park Edition 75%

Made by Joyce Lee of JL Chocolate in Pingtung, this limited edition chocolate bar was chosen to celebrate the festive season at Pingtung Cacao Park in 2023.

Tasting notes: Light acidity with notes of champagne, berry and passionfruit

🔸Top Middle
Fu Wan Chocolate, Pingtung
Taiwan #1 Ping Tung 62%

With a focus on sustainable cacao practices, Fu Wan Chocolate in Pingtung sourced cacao pods from multiple local farmers. Their dedication has earned them multiple awards at ICA World Chocolate Competition.

Tasting notes: Raisins, vanilla, lychee, and candied kumquat.

🔸Top Right
Maya Farm (梅雅農場), Pingtung
Dark chocolate 72%

Their meticulous approach to recording fermentation and roasting processes results in flavors that beautifully capture the essence of the terroir. What amazed me the most is beside growing their own banana trees for fermentation, there is also a fish pond on site that provides nutrients and water for the cacao trees! It really shows their holistic approach to farming and sustainability.

Tasting Notes: Layered notes of banana, tropical fruit, and pickled plum. Juicy and tart with a long finish.

Bottom row coming up next!
#屏東 #屏東巧克力

04/24/2024

🔸Cacao in Taiwan - Part 3🔸

🔸Flavour Profile

Picture savouring a morsel of chocolate, allowing it to gradually dissolve and roll across your taste buds. Are you curious about how Taiwan cacao dances the waltz?

Compared to their counterparts in Africa and Central and Latin America, whose cacao plantations average around 30 years in age, Taiwan’s cacao trees are relatively young, averaging just over ten years. This youthfulness contributes to a lower sugar content in the beans, resulting in a more pronounced acidity in the cacao produced.

The flavor spectrum ranges from hints of hazelnut, toasted nuts, orange, honey, and coffee, transitioning to fruity notes like juicy berry, guava, longan, lychee, and floral undertones with a subtle touch of acidity.

You know what? Each chocolate maker employs their own distinct approach to crafting tree-to-bar or bean-to-bar chocolate, relying on their ability to capture the terroir and interpret the local flavour. Wouldn‘t it be fun to explore Taiwan cacao from different farms and chocolate makers?
#屏東 #屏東巧克力🍫

02/16/2024

🔸TAKING A SHORT BREAK🔸

This tiny baking adventure is near and dear to my heart. The journey was like a black box challenge - some ingredients I am familiar with, and some are complete surprises! I am extremely grateful to meet many talented local food makers and entrepreneurs, and have the opportunity to collaborate together!

My deepest gratitude to all of you who stopped by at farmer’s markets, craft markets, and pop-up events.

It is time for much-needed rest, recharge, and re-imagine what is happening next.

Creating Hakka Pounded Tea (Lei Cha) 客家擂茶 Cookies made me realize it barely scratched the surface of Hakka culture in Taiwan, the place I grew up before moving to Canada. There will be many childhood stories from Papa Wu as I travel back home and dig a little deeper. Stay tuned!

❤️Olivia

02/13/2024

From the bottom of my heart, a huge THANK YOU to team and for all your time and effort in the Year of the Dragon collaboration. I am very grateful for the precious opportunity to be part of this project!

From meticulous details of ’s hand-drawn Dragon, powerful yet elegant calligraphy greeting, the punctilious process of chocolate bar making, the laborious process of carefully wrapping every single chocolate bar, to the heart-moving story of this collaboration project, every little detail is extremely important!

Thank you team, Vince, , , Leo, , Kendra, and . You are the best!! ❤️

02/09/2024

Posted • 🐉 🔸Year of the Dragon - Taiwan Collection🔸
I was lucky to grab the collaboration, an extremely limited edition. It’s sold out, but the Assortment Box (swipe right) has the Hakka Pounded Tea cookies that I loved, and I’ve linked that in my bio! Label designed by
Pictured here:
🍫 KASAMA x NOISETTE Dalandan Milk Chocolate Bar with Buzzed Ginger Longan Biscuit
🍪 Hakka Pounded Tea (LeiCha) Cookies
🍪 Buzzed Ginger Longan Cookies
Lunar New Year Cookies | Vancouver Bakeries | Taiwanese Baking | Specialty Baked Goods

02/09/2024

01/28/2024

🔸Year of the Dragon - Taiwan Collection🔸

It is a great honour to collaborate with team and to bring you limited edition Dalandan Milk Chocolate with Buzzed Ginger Longan Biscuit!

Back in October 2023, we were bouncing off ideas with Vince and Leo at and dreaming about year of the Dragon. Longan fruit (龍眼） came to mind! The nickname “dragon’s eye” is due to what it looks like with its dark seed once the juicy flesh is removed. Isn‘t it fitting to use longan fruit as one of the ingredients for Lunar New Year Chocolate Bars?

With Buzzed Ginger Longan Cookie as a starting point, I created a cracker version with the same flavour profile - smokiness from the roasted smoked longan fruit, dreamy aroma from Shaoxing wine, and gentle heat from ginger and freshly ground black peppercorn.

We carefully chopped the cracker into small pieces, sprinkled them into 55% dark milk chocolate made with cacao from Davao de Oro and infused with Philippine Dalandan. It is a creamy chocolate bar with crunchy, layered texture and notes of citrus, ginger, smoke and pepper that you will find yourself keeping on coming back for another bite!

We have put together Year of the Dragon - 🇹🇼Taiwan Collection Boxes to celebrate dragons taking flight!

-KASAMA x NOISETTE Dalandan Milk Chocolate with Buzzed Ginger Longan Biscuit
-Hakka Pounded Tea (LeiCha) Cookie x3
-Buzzed Ginger Longan Cookie x3

Limited boxes available on website!

01/27/2024

12/25/2023

Finishing up the last boxes of this year. My heart is full of gratitude and appreciation. Thank you all for your words of encouragement, kind comment, and warm smiles! Happy Holidays!
❤

12/16/2023

Many Holiday Gift Boxes already found their sweet homes! My heart is full of gratitude and joy from all your love and support. ❤️

Very few Holiday Gift Boxes are available for the lucky friends and family on your list!